by Graham Tutthillgtutthill@thekmgroup.co.uk

Two Royal Navy ships are visiting Dover this week.

HMS Smiter is affiliated with the town and she is due to arrive today with her sister ship HMS Trumpeter.

The two patrol boats have been operating off the south coast and visit Dover to develop the affiliation which has been made in replacement of the previous one with HMS Tracker.

During the visit the Mayor's Chaplain, Rev. David Ridley will bless the Ship's bell iat a short ceremony attended by the Mayor Cllr Anne Smith, the district council's vice chairman Cllr Paul Le Chevalier, representatives of the port, 2 Brigade, the Royal Navy Regional Commander and Dover Sea Cadets.

Tomorrow, a group from Canterbury College who are taking public services course will tour the ships when the crew will show them the ships' capabilities and some practical aspects of life in the Royal Navy.

Further visits will be made later in the day when cadets from TS Onyx will spend their drill night visiting the ships.

Smiter and Trumpeter will leave on Friday morning to travel to London where they will spend the Easter weekend and support the University Boat Race. Cllr Le Chevalier and his wife will sail on HMS Smiter for the voyage to London.

The Lt Brian Drewitt, Commanding Officer of HMS Smiter said: "We are very much looking forward to spending a few days in Dover and getting to know the town better and building on our affiliation."